Those foreign powers that were disillusioned by the royal takeover of 1 February have now begun to realise the truth. In the beginning they wrongly thought that the king had to takeover because the communists had begun to command both the jungle and the urban areas. There was also speculation that the king might have been backed by India and the US from behind the scene in order to get rid of the communists. Few buy that myth now.

International organisations and even Indian political parties have been critical of what is happening in Nepal. What more could foreign powers do to support democracy in Nepal? After all, if the situation deteriorates any further, there may be direct intervention. Foreign powers will certainly continue their support if opposition parties and the Maoists join hands. One thing is for sure: it's not for the foreigners to launch a movement in our country. They can't do much as long as Nepalis themselves gear up for the movement. When all political parties stand united, they will surely win the support of the international community. The history of Nepal is replete with examples of outsiders backing domestic people power movements. After the multi-party system was abolished in 1960, Nepal did see movement of the opposition parties for so many years. But the movement won international support only in 1990, only because it was then the movement garnered people's support. In the same way, if we are committed to multi-party democracy and move toward constituent assembly, there is no reason why we cannot get international support.